7 Keys to Education & Employment

Purchase Smart Cities

About Smart Cities

As the majority of the world’s population becomes urban, cities must become centers of learning for young and old. Every person, organization and region needs to get smart – to skill up, learn more and build new capacities faster and cheaper than ever. In the long run, education is the economic development agenda. Innovative new tools and schools are making it possible for individuals, organizations, and cities to boost learning outcomes. Most begin with leadership and an innovation mindset. This combination of persistence, entrepreneurship and a collaborative focus on impact can be taught in every classroom and encouraged in every city. This book was created from a two year investigation project launched to discover the civic formula required to dramatically boost learning outcomes and employability.

Praise for Smart Cities

“It’s clear; you can’t have a great city without great schools. If you want to reduce crime and poverty, you need a good education system – it’s the great equalizer, it’s the passport, it’s the civil rights issue of our time.” – Kevin Johnson, Mayor of Sacramento

“There is strong momentum gathering around these uber-entrepreneurial, metro-regional approaches to incubating innovation in education, and Smart Cities provides a timely and practical roadmap for local leaders exploring strategies to do it well.” – Andy Calkins, Deputy Director, Next Generation Learning Challenges

“Smart Cities gathered insights from some of the field’s best thinkers and doers. If that’s not worth bumping up to the top of your to-read list, I’m not sure what is.” – Andy Smarick, Bellwether Education Partners

“Super persuasive argument around cities as the appropriate unit of educational organization. I cam to the same conclusion, though never articulated it even 1/10 as well as you have.” – Gunnar Counselman, CEO Fidelis Education

“I like the way the books provides the structure for thinking about collective change and the resources contained to provide a visual representation. Your work is appreciated.” – Tim Hilborn, Chief Instructional Officer, TRECA Education Solutions

About the Authors & Contributors

Tom Vander Ark is CEO of Getting Smart, an education advocacy firm, partner in Learn Capital, an education venture fund and author of Getting Smart: How Digital Learning is Changing the World. Previously, Tom was a philanthropy executive, public school superintendent and has vast private sector experience.

Mary Ryerse is editor and project manager of the Smart Cities project. Mary is an EdTech executive and former curriculum director with a focus on college and career readiness.